Burris in ethics probe

And you thought the Blagojevich show is over?

As Burris was vying for the Senate seat, he tried to raise money for then-Gov. Blagojevich. Sen. Burris is now under investigation by the state and Republicans are calling for actions to dig deeper into the situation.

When is Chicago style politics going to be cleaned up???

Making excuses for Democratic scandals

Politicians are politicians, and scandals get uncovered from both parties. That's no excuse for politicians to become corrupt, however. I can't believe Eve Fairbanks on The New Republic would post reasons "Why the Democratic Scandals Don't Matter (Yet)":

- Most of the Democratic scandals have been on the state or local level. That's not to say the figures involved aren't villains, but people are more likely both to assume state politics is dirtier than national politics (which I think is often true) and to attribute state-level corruption to local dissipation rather than the mores of the national party. It's important to remember that the GOP ethics problem of 2005-2006 involved Washington people like Bob Ney and Jack Abramoff, rather than state politicians like Haley Barbour. How many times have we heard that Blagojevich's crimes were "the Chicago way"? This kind of thinking is good for the Democrats.

- The Democratic scandals are not linked (and, to boot, are mostly so bizarre as to seem sui generis). What a great media narrative Abramoff made: A pious religious man makes a bargain with the devil and links up with a greedy Majority Leader. Soon, twelve Washington powerbrokers have been convicted, including a congressman. But where the common themes between the GOP scandals (inappropriate golf junkets, bilking Indian tribes) made them seem all part and parcel of a single corruption syndrome, the Democrats' scandals are not as clearly linked, so are less likely to seem symptomatic. (Spitzer was obsessed with sporting socks while Blagojevich was abnormally engrossed with his Paul Mitchell hairbrush: could there be a party-wide fetish problem?)

- The Democratic scandals do not involve top party leadership. Not yet. Harry Reid, please, please avoid Las Vegas for a little while.

- People do not yet think the Democratic president sucks. Let's face it: The Abramoff stuff (and then, towards the end, Mark Foley) only made a difference because the bloom was already off the GOP rose anyway, thanks to George W. Bush.

Can you believe it? It's like she's gladly making excuses for these Democrats. "The Chicago Way" kind of thinking is good for Democrats? And people don't yet think Obama sucks? Well, isn't Obama a product of the Chicago Way politics? And I know plenty of folks who already think Obama-as-president will suck.

Leggo my Blago

Okay, so I'm just trying to come up with a clever title than "Way to go, Blago"...

Evidently Roland Burris (D), Blagojevich's senate appointee, has a history of wrongfully convicting death sentences. Of course, that's not the reason the Democrats are going berserk over the appointment. They're going berserk because they'd warned Blagojevich not to proceed with an appointment. Worse yet, Burris is enjoying the media spotlight and gladly waits to be seated in the Senate amid Majority Leader Harry Reid's threat.

The Democrats have a hot potato in their hands with this one. The appointment is completely legal, and Burris stands to win if this goes to court. The best plan is to negotiate for Burris' promise not to run for re-election in 2010, but who knows, maybe Burris has greater political ambitions. One thing is for certain, Chicago-style politics is as flavorful as its pizza!

Emanuel had talks with Blagojevich's aides

All right, so Obama was correct in saying that none of his aides discussed the vacant Illinois senate seat with Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The truth is that Rahm Emanuel had such discussions with Blagojevich's aides. So technically Obama didn't lie.

Being a product of the Chicago political machine and considering his past (and current) questionable associates like Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, I would not be a bit surprised if he gets in trouble one of these days. Plus, I really don't think the Clintons would mind bringing him down, either.

The immediate tasks following Obama's presidency may not be dealing with the economy and foreign policy, but rather hiding and avoiding skeletons in the closets of his inner circle.